Ryoma's Lover
by nicki-gurl
Summary: Horio was walking home one day when he overheard a phone conversation that he shouldn’t have and told the old crowd. With three persons in suspicion the old regulars initiated a campaign to find out Ryoma’s real lover... Ryomax?...
1. Chapter One: Revelation

**Summary:** Horio was walking home one day when he overheard a phone conversation that he shouldn't have. Being an innate busybody he told the old crowd and thus initiated a campaign to find out with whom their tennis prodigy is going out. With three persons in suspicion can the old regulars find out Ryoma's real lover?

**Rating:** K+ for mild mature contents.

**Pairings:** I am not saying what the pairing is. This story is still (when I have written otherwise?) Ryoma-centric. So for now the pairing is RyomaX?

**Disclaimer:** I DOn't own Prince of Tennis or any of its character. If I did it would officially become a yaoi anime and well… use your perverted imaginations!

**Warning:** This is a yaoi story. It has boy x boy love here so for those who can't appreciate such thing you are warned. This chapter is fairly safe. No real adult contents to be worried about.

**AN:** This is my attempt at some humor people. This story is relatively short (compared to any multi-chaptered stories I've written), composed only of six chapters. And I'm bringing out the first chapter to you and compared to my other stories I have finished typing this and is stored safely in my computer (and my flash disks for safety) so the update will be entirely up to my availability to go online…

The timeline for this chapter is two years after the end of the manga/anime. The first years are now the seniors, Ryoma stayed to finish junior high and he is the captain of the Seigaku Tennis Club. The other regulars are all in high school, but they still have contacts with each other, especially because they are all in high school department of Seigaku. That's the whole setting!

Any comments or suggestions will be greatly welcomed! So read, enjoy and review!

* * *

**RYOMA'S LOVER**

**by nicki-gurl**

**Chapter One: Revelation**

* * *

It was a warm, pleasant Sunday morning. The birds were chirping harmoniously as if personifying a well-established choir and the air was thick with fragrant scent from the array of blooming flowers. It was a perfect morning, and anyone who woke up to this welcoming atmosphere would surely have a very pleasant start to his day.

But one junior high senior was trudging lackluster at a path going through one of the public tennis courts of the city. He kicked aimlessly at a random stone on his path, wondering why he was out in this ungodly hour of the morning, coming to the beck and call of his older sister.

"When I grow up and have my own life…"

Horio's words were mumbled deeply, like he was afraid someone would hear his words. Which he was, actually. He wouldn't let it pass his sister to have some sort of Horio-radar or something of the like. As he walked through the familiar path something caught his eyes and he stopped to take a closer look.

"That's Echizen!" exclaimed to himself.

Horio settled himself far away enough as not to disturb his classmate but near enough to see him perform first hand. The next intra-school tournament is coming up and Horio hoped he could get a few pointers to help him finally achieve a regular's spot by watching Echizen.

Echizen wiped the sweat off his brows. He fixed his cap once more and took a frighteningly accurate serve to hit the leaf that fell from the tree. Calculatingly accurate. When he is in this mode practically nothing and no one could distract him. Concentration this intense was one of his specialties. Horio watched his classmate in awe as Echizen took another aim with great success.

A sound emitted from the lump that was Echizen's bag and Horio ignored it, knowing full well that the captain of the Seigaku Tennis Club would only pay no attention to it. He had seen it countless of times, how practically nothing could sway his captain's attention when he was totally concentrated with his tennis, which he was at the moment. But boy was he surprised when he saw him walk towards his bag and fished out his cell phone.

"Hello?"

He could clearly hear his captain's voice. Curiosity perked, Horio was torn between giving his captain his well-deserved privacy and his very own innate habit of breaking common courtesy to find out something he can gossip later. The latter won out in a landslide.

"Yes?"

"I _was_ practicing, thank you very much. You know my schedules; you purposely called me at this time to disrupt my practice."

"Like you would live it down when I ignore your call."

"You're calling me for that? Maybe I should just hang up."

"I don't have anything to wear there! Wait… I thought I lost that. You were the one who took it?"

"Why am I cursed to have a boyfriend like you? And to think you present yourself so well in the public."

"Fine, I'll just finish my training and I'll come over your house."

"Yeah, yeah. Just go already. And yeah, I love you too."

Echizen hang up and gripped his racket again, checking the strings more out of habit than necessity. When satisfied he returned to his previous position and while walking back Horio caught glimpse of his captain's face. Echizen's normally impassive face was showing a hint of a smile. Not a smirk, but a true and genuine smile.

Horio stayed frozen from his hiding place, not entirely believing what he had just heard. His captain did not just smile. And he certainly did not hear him speaking with what seemed to be his 'boyfriend'.

He went out of his hiding place and walked seemingly in a daze. He did not know where he was going, the words of Echizen still etched in his mind. After walking around for minutes his mind was lifted off from the clouds when he heard his name being called.

"Horio! Horio! Come here."

Horio looked to his left only to see the former regulars of Seigaku at their favorite fast food chain, sitting at the outdoor part of the restaurant. He shook his head to clear his confusion and entered the establishment. Momo moved to give him a space to squeeze in. Next to Momo were Kaidoh, then Inui. Taka, Fuji, Kikumaru and Oishi sat opposite of them. Tezuka was as usual absent from the outing.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Horio asked.

"We did an early morning practice and decided to have breakfast together," Momo answered. "What about you? It's a weekend so you don't have practice today."

"Yeah, you seemed preoccupied out there," Oishi commented. "How's the team?"

"How is Echizen coping with the captaincy?" Fuji asked.

Horio still looked a bit dazed but he answered nonetheless. "The team is fine; we just advanced to the regional. And Echizen is doing great with the team."

"Hoi, hoi! Ochibi's doing a fine job then," Kikumaru said happily.

"But why do you seem distressed?" Oishi prodded.

Horio did not know what to answer. It seemed he has two options. He could either answer the question with a lie and keep this new information to himself, or share this yummy tidbit and discover its mysteries that were starting to frustrate him. The decision was very easy to make.

"It's Echizen…" and he proceeded to tell them what he just overheard.

"Ii, data," Inui said, scribbling away in his notebook at a lightning speed.

"It's not very nice to listen to others' conversations," Kaidoh said after Horio finished his story.

"Are you sure you heard it correctly?" Taka asked.

"Yes!" Horio screeched in his usual manner.

"It seemed inevitable, doesn't it?" Fuji put in. "Girls have never been his interest."

"Hoi, hoi, Ochibi's growing up so fast, nya!" Eiji interjected.

"But Echizen is…" Oishi trailed. "He still is…"

Eiji patted his partner's shoulder soothingly. "There, there. You don't have to worry about him Oishi, nya!"

"But it is kind of strange, isn't it? Who could interest him so much like that?" Momo wondered out loud. "I mean he always had tennis in his head, 24/7, seven days a week. And I've been hanging around him lately and Echizen hasn't even given a hint that he was interested in someone, much less that he is actually seeing someone."

"Fshuuu… Maybe he doesn't trust you enough…" Kaidoh drawled tauntingly.

"What did you say mamushi?" barked Momo.

"You heard me, peach butt!" Kaidoh retorted.

"Hmn… if my calculations are correct I would say that Echizen is definitely seeing someone from the old tennis circuit," Inui suddenly announced out of the blue, eyeglasses glinting frighteningly.

The statement ultimately put a stop at the inevitable fight between Momo and Kaidoh, which consequently would surely get them kicked out of the restaurant, albeit it being a fast food one. Fuji tilted his head a little to regard Inui with his smiling countenance. But it was Kikumaru who voiced out the inquiry most of them had thought of.

"Nani? What do you mean Inui, nya?" Kikumaru asked clueless.

Then again maybe he didn't actually voice out their questions right.

"It means that Echizen is probably seeing someone we know Eiji," Fuji clarified in his sweetest, most saccharine voice.

A collective, involuntary shiver ran through a number of the people at their table, meaning it was only Fuji and Inui who remained collected and composed at the moment. The cause of shiver, whether it was due to the revelation or Fuji's voice, was still undetermined.

Inui took another look at his very trusty notebook, one of the many, which was now sporting three pages worth of new data. His theories, hypothesis and conclusions are yet to come.

"There is a 90% chance that his boyfriend is also a tennis player and a 93% that he would turn out to be one of the tennis players we already know."

"Nani?" was the collective response.

Fixing his glasses (for the added drama, Fuji noted with amusement), Inui deigned an elaboration. "To be able to interest Echizen that much he must be well versed with the boy's way of life and tennis is a very prominent part of it. And only someone who knew him beforehand would countenance his initial persona of being proud and anti-social."

"Huh?" Momo and Kikumaru chorused.

Fuji allowed a chuckle to escape his lips. "What he meant was that Echizen's boyfriend must have known him for a long time to be able to stand his personality and at the same time interest him."

"But who could he be?" Oishi muttered under his breath.

"Does anyone have any idea?" Taka asked in the general vicinity.

Everyone suddenly hushed, contemplating for a moment. Everyone, that is, except Horio, who was looking at his senpais in absolute shock and delight. Shock because he was overwhelmed by the whole turn the conversation had taken and delight because he felt like he had been inducted to a members' only clique he had always harbored a deep longing of being accepted.

Fuji decided to offer his opinion first, doing so with his eternal smile still intact. "There is the probability of him hooking up with Tezuka."

Everyone turned to him sharply.

"You're right," Momo agreed. "We actually talked about that possibility years ago, right Eiji-sempai."

"You're right, nya!" Kikumaru affirmed.

"Or there is Atobe," Oishi offered contemplatively. "Ever since the Nationals, ever since the practice matches at Karuizawa before the Kantou Taikai on our senior year actually, he has been a keen observer of Echizen."

Kaidoh presented his own thoughts on the matter, much to the surprise of some of them. "There is also that Yukimura," he pointed out shyly. "I mean Echizen has always been interested in him ever since he learned that he was dubbed the 'Child of God'."

"What do you think of it all?" Taka asked, turning towards Inui.

Inui appeared to be calculating the variables in his mind, muttering under his breath now and then about 'the probability of attraction' and 'the factors of lust and sexual tension'. The vague monologue caused Oishi to come closer to a serious hyperventilation.

"When we look at all the variables I came up with a very interesting reckoning. The three aforementioned people have the highest probability of hooking up with Echizen, each having 30% chances of being the mystery boyfriend."

Kikumaru suddenly sprang to his feet, almost toppling the chair he was using if Fuji hadn't employed his magnificent reflexes and caught the thing before it made contact with the concrete.

"I won't be satisfied until I find out who Ochibi's dating, nya!" he declared passionately. "Seriously, we have to find out who he is."

"Let's calm down for a bit, shall we?" Fuji quipped in.

"Well, let's analyze this a little more," Momo suggested. "Let try to see how compatible they are to Echizen."

"Well, we do know Tezuka pretty well and if we really entertain the thought he does suit Echizen very much," Oishi said contemplatively.

There was a collective nod in agreement of the statement. Fuji further reiterated, "Yes, he is the only one who could really control him when he is in his most obnoxious. Tezuka can be the one who reminds Echizen that sometimes he needed to take things seriously."

"How about Atobe?" Taka asked.

"Their similarity is so uncanny," Momo stressed out. "I mean have you seen those two together? In the same area? They are like the double act of cockiness, with their pride-meter skyrocketing even more at each other's presence!"

"Saa… The seemingly perfect match. Atobe Keigo brings out the devil in Echizen," Fuji added.

"And Yukimura?" Kaidoh prodded.

"Well, Yukimura is kind and soft and sociable," Inui recited out from his notebook. "He is so very different from Echizen."

Fuji offered another insight. "But he can also balance the anti-socialness of the boy. He actually completes him, personality wise."

Horio offered his first opinion since the discussion he inevitably started in the first place began. "So does this mean all of them can be his boyfriend?"

Kikumaru shook his adamantly. "No, no, no! I will not rest until I know for sure who he is."

"But aren't we going to disrupt Echizen's privacy if we dwell on this matter?" Taka asked worriedly. "I mean he has the freedom to tell us who he has been seeing. If he wanted us to know he would have said it sooner."

"But this is Echizen we are talking about!" Momo insisted dramatically. "What if he is actually seeing someone we don't know and it turns he is nothing more of a pervert? Have you heard the rise of pedophiles and child molesters now-a-days? We need to protect our kohai and it starts with the people he hangs out with."

Everyone turned to the former fukubuchou, who was the unofficial leader of the group whenever Tezuka was not in presence. It wasn't hard for Oishi to make up his mind, nor did it require Kikumaru to further motivate his long-time boyfriend. He has been won over since the word 'pervert' has been mentioned.

"Yes, we'll solve this mystery once and for all and protect Echizen!" Oishi expressed with craze, fist raised in a determined manner.

"Ii, data"

X

X

X

"So this is the plan," Oishi announced, the unproclaim team leader of the mission. "We'll split the surveillance amongst ourselves."

He looked over the heads of his troops seated at his family's living room, with only one notable absence. Fuji was not present, after excusing himself with the reason being that Yuuta was coming home and thus he wanted to spend the rest of the day with his younger brother. The glint in Fuji's eyes was enough to scare even the bravest of man so even though it was their first official meeting for their mission Oishi had allowed him to leave.

"Saa… you can just assign me the supervision of Echizen. He'll never know I'm tailing him," Fuji had said to make up for his absence before another smile lit up in his face and he bade them all farewell.

"As requested by Fuji he will be in charge of tailing Echizen," Oishi continued under the rapt attention of the others. "Taka, you're in charge of Tezuka. Make sure you take note of all interactions between him and Echizen. Eiji will help you.

"Momo and Kaidoh, you see after Atobe. Inui can take care of Yukimura since he is friends with Yanagi. I'll be helping him if the assistance is needed. Inui will also be in charge of the overall evaluation and assessment. I'll be the one overseeing the operation. Any questions?"

Momo raised his arms quickly. "Why do I have to partner with Mamushi?"

"You have anything against it, peach butt?" Kaidoh growled.

Momo sent him a smirk. "Of course I do. Who'd want to partner a mamushi like you?"

"Why you…"

"Stop!" Oishi exclaimed. He began his customary monologue. "Please remember that we are doing this for the benefit of Echizen, to keep him from being used by someone perverted. He is still a young boy, he needs constant guidance. And since we are now in high school we can't offer that to him regularly. That is why we need to this and show him that he has friends there to support him and guide him. This is for protecting him and assessing the person he is seeing right now. This is our duty as his sempai-tachi. For Echizen's welfare we'll overcome all obstacles to reveal his identity! We'll know for sure who has placed himself in a special part of our Echizen's heart!"

Along the streets of Tokyo one person in particular sneezed.

TBC…

* * *

I hope this chapter isn't too confusing or too… pointless. The idea just came to me and I just let my imagination take the reins of my body. Feel free to speculate who Ryo-chan's boyfriend is. You can tell me by posting a review… V^^V

**nicki-gurl**


	2. Chapter Two: Tezuka Kunimitsu

**Summary**: Horio was walking home one day when he overheard a phone conversation that he shouldn't have. Being an innate busybody he told the old crowd and thus initiated a campaign to find out with whom their tennis prodigy is going out. With three persons in suspicion can the old regulars find out Ryoma's real lover?

**Rating:** K+ for mild mature contents.

**Pairings:** I am not saying what the pairing is. This story is still (when I have written otherwise?) Ryoma-centric. So for now the pairing is RyomaX?

**Disclaimer**: I DOn't own Prince of Tennis or any of its character. If I did it would officially become a yaoi anime and well… use your perverted imaginations!

**Warning**: This is a yaoi story. It has boy x boy love here so for those who can't appreciate such thing you are warned. This chapter is fairly safe. No real adult contents to be worried about.

**Note**: The whole chapter is done using the point of views of the researchers/stalkers. This means that everything would be subjected to their personal opinions and views. The reports were done using a voice recorder, more specifically those installed in cellular phones and such. Sometimes I will shift to regular narration, but I'll make it as clear as I possibly can. I might skip down a day or two because they can't be monopolizing Ryoma's time…

For this chapter:

_Talk_ – Kikumaru Eiji

Talk – Kawamura Takashi

Talk – Other characters

* * *

**RYOMA'S LOVER**

**Chapter Two: Kunimitsu Tezuka**

* * *

**Official Report on Tezuka Kunimitsu**

**Surveillance under Kawamura Takashi and Kikumaru Eiji**

**Surveillance Date: June 16, XXXX – June 22, XXXX**

_Hello, test mike nya! Test mike nya!_

Eiji, I don't think we need to do that. We are using your cell phone anyways.

_But I want to, nya! This is like so exciting so we need to do all this right, specially this report, nya!_

I still think we should have just written a report or something… but I guess this one will be easier, ne?

_Yeah, we just talk and all nya! This is so going to be fun, and I can't wait for the things we will found out about Tezuka! We'll do a report even Inui would be envious about. _

And hopefully we'll prove one way or another if Tezuka is the one.

_Whatever Taka! I just think Tezuka is the one. I mean they have history, and they've known each other like forever and hey, they are like… Seigaku's pillars or something._

Okay, let's just start with the report now…

x

x

x

**June 16, XXXX**

We didn't see Tezuka until after the lunch brake. It's really hard to keep track of him even in school due to all his extra-curricular activities.

_He's like super busy and super active and super… I can't think of anything else Taka. But anyways, he's really moving a lot and it was really exhausting following him back and forth, nya! It's good that I'm like super fast and so agile and so…_

But Eiji almost blew our cover a couple of times because he gets so excited whenever Tezuka does… something. From looking inside his bag to fiddling with his phone and laptop-

_Because he might be contacting Ochibi!_

Well, we really didn't get to know that. But the day seemed pretty normal at times until the end of the classes.

x

x

x

Silence reigned as the former captain of Seigaku and current vice captain (and future captain) of Seigaku High walked to the general direction of his house. There were quite a number of people out on the street on their way home or to meet up with someone, and it was a wonder why it was all silent and stoic…

Taka tried to control his hyperactive partner-in-crime as they tailed the high school sophomore. Either Tezuka was extremely preoccupied or he has lost his touch but he seemed to have not noticed the two following him around. It was a miracle actually, since Kikumaru tended to get excited whenever their subject did something even ordinary

"Look, look! Tezuka just answered his phone!" Kikumaru exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"It could have come from anyone," Taka replied. "Please settle down Eiji or he'll notice us. I, for one, don't want his wrath descending upon us."

Kikumaru scoffed at his words but clamed down a little bit. "Puh-lease! Don't be so over dramatic Taka! Enjoy this mission! It's rare we get to have some information about Tezuka that can be blackmail potential."

Taka sighed as he rubbed his temple. "You've been hanging out with Fuji a lot lately…"

"Let's get closer so that we can hear what he's saying." Kikumaru cut in.

Fortunately, or unfortunately in Tezuka's part, he was standing beside an array of grown plants and trees, and it was a convenient place for the two to hide and listen in on their friend's conversation.

"Ahh…"

Kikumaru frowned at what he heard.

"I see…"

Taka waited for the next statement.

"Really?"

The red head tried to peek through the bushes to see their subject's facial expression.

"Okay."

The power player tried to pull his partner back to keep him from exposing their hiding place.

"Bye."

A brow twitched. Taka looked at his partner pleadingly, asking him silently to keep quiet and not make any ruckus. But…

"That was it?"

Tezuka whipped around when he heard the outburst and saw Kikumaru emerging from the bushes behind him looking annoyed and disgruntled. Soon after Taka also stood up and he looked at them quizzically.

"What are doing there?" he asked.

Kikumaru soon realized what he had done and tried valiantly to think of something to say to prevent their cover from being blown up.

"We were… ah…," Kikumaru trailed.

"We… were… looking for the store Momo recommended was a great place to eat out," Taka improvised.

"Yeah, we wanted to… eat sushi, nya!" Kikumaru added. "Isn't that right Taka?"

"Yeah! Sushi! Such a delicious food…"

Tezuka continued to gaze at them with unreadable eyes. The scrutiny was mere seconds but it felt like hours for the two. And when he finally spoke again they were forced to use their brains to wheedle out of Tezuka's impenetrable logic.

"And Kawamura Sushi is…"

Thank goodness for the nutrients sushi contains or Kawamura would have a hard time bailing themselves out of Tezuka's wrath. And although relative calm and level-headed, Tezuka could be as vindictive as Fuji when provoked.

"I wanted to check out the other sushi bars to keep up with the competition. We're always looking for improvement," Kawamura replied, hopping it will satisfy the other teen.

"Hmn… then I suggest you try out the sushi bar down the road," Tezuka suggested curtly. "I'll be going now."

Kikumaru and Kawamura watched the retreating back of their former and future captain with their attempted innocent looks still intact. When they were sure that he was far away did they dropped the façade, and both heaved a sigh of relief.

"That was really close, nya? I thought we were done for," Kikumaru said.

"I wouldn't want to think what could have happen if he realized what we're really doing," Kawamura added.

"But Ochibi's happiness is on the line so as good sempais it is our duty to watch over him!" the red head exclaimed.

Kawamura contemplated for a while before he replied. "Maybe you're right. Still, I feel uneasy spying on Tezuka. It seemed like we're suspicious of him or something."

Kikumaru scoffed. "It's not like that. Out of the three I want him to be Tezuka because we already know him. And it's also to assure Ochibi stays with us. If he goes out with either of the other two who knows… maybe he'll go to their high school. I can't face Ochibi in an official match in the opposite side of the court! It's like having a quarrel with one of my brothers when they use my toothpaste."

The timid teen tried to process the logic behind Kikumaru's words but decided the process to be too tedious and too hard. Besides Kikumaru himself only Oishi could make sense of what the acrobatic player says.

"Just think Ryoma in those awful Hyotei uniform? Or the hideous Rikkai jerseys!" Kikumaru continued.

"Ano… Didn't you just say last week that we should change our uniforms to something that resembles those of Rikkai?" Kawamura asked.

"That was before their captain suddenly tried to take Ochibi away from us!" Kikumaru flayed.

Kawamura would never understand the hyperactive player, and decided to leave the understanding of the other player in the hands of their mother hen.

x

x

x

**June 19, XXXX**

Due to the make-up class we needed to take to compensate for the classes we've missed due to our tennis matches Tezuka stayed in the school until it was almost nighttime for the past two days. He heads straight home after classes.

_Unnya! And it was optional anyways. I couldn't stay that long in school unless we're practicing tennis… Tezuka is so weird._

Eiji! What if Tezuka accidentally hears you? It'll totally ruin our plan.

_Well duh! Tezuka's not here so…_

What are you two doing? You're disrupting practice!

_So… sorry buchou!_/ So… sorry buchou!

I'm not the captain. Yamamura-buchou is. And just because he is not here doesn't mean you can lag behind.

Sorry Tezuka…

And cell phones are prohibited during practice. Ten laps around the courts and after that return to you drill!

_Hai!_/ Hai!

**(Sound of shuffling followed by the soft thud of sneakered feet meeting the hard concrete of the ground)**

See, I told you he could accidentally hear us. We should be more careful

_Unnya! Gomen ne. I'll be more careful next time. But he seems more talkative today. He actually gave us full sentences. Before it was just like 'ten laps for disrupting practice'._

Now that you mention it…

What are you two doing? You're being too obvious.

_Oishi! Unnya! Tezuka's hard to track you know._

Eiji! He might hear you!

_Gomen, gomen!_

We'll just continue the report later ne?

_Okay Taka! Last one to finish the laps gets to drink Inui's new juice!_

x

x

x

Kikumaru felt something different about the day that made him more energized and hyperactive than normal. And as they continued to watch (subtlely) the fukubuchou of Seigaku High control the lot with more finesse than their current captain he couldn't help but get more excited. While Kikumaru exasperated over all little things Taka was busy trying to maintain their mission's inconspicuousness.

Luckily, unluckily in Kikumaru's part, after they set off in another batch of ten-laps-punishment the red-head was so engrossed with peering over to watch the tall teen Kikumaru took a glass of suspiciously yellowish liquid from Inui, one that normally the hyperactive teen sought to avoid at all cost. The result was for Taka to finally have a break from watching the other teen and for Oishi to hover over Kikumaru worriedly.

Kikumaru was revived after resting for over hour, just as the stoic vice captain finished up with his extra-curricular duties elsewhere. And it was just in time, having had lady luck on their side this day and enabling Taka to get a glimpse of their target's cell phone while he was changing his clothes in the club room. Tezuka had forgotten it was still open, a simple text message still in the window, as he was called out by their coach for a last minute discussion.

"Are you certain that it really came from him?" Kikumaru asked for the umpteenth time.

"Yes," Taka replied patiently, also for the umpteenth time.

Their attention was called by the tall figure exiting the school premises. Kikumaru and Taka followed the enigmatic teen as discreetly as they could, dodging people as they tried to match the pace of Tezuka. They stopped when they noticed Tezuka enter a fast food joint.

Kikumaru and Taka looked at each other and both emitted a smile of victory. If there was anything to indicate that Tezuka is seeing their former baby, this was one of the best proofs. Kikumaru fished out his phone and started recording the developments.

_x_

_x_

_x_

_Unya! We just got the best scoop in town!_

Eiji, please, not so loud!

*whispers* _I'm sorry Taka, I just got excited. Okay, we followed Tezuka as soon as he left the school after Taka read a text message from Tezuka's phone._

I know it's not the nicest thing to do, and as soon as we clear this up I'm going to apologize to Tezuka.

_Whatever, Taka! And now we're here at McDonalds! This is like THE PROOF, unya!_

Uhm… what Eiji means is that this is a solid proof because we all know that Tezuka's preference in food does not really ran in that direction. Ryoma's, on the other hand…

_He simply loves it! I bet they inside, having a date and being all mushy mushy. Maybe Echizen just took a bite of his hamburger, then he leans over and offers the same burger for Tezuka to bite on, and then he does take a bite and he chews and looks at Ochibi with eyes full of love and tenderness and…_

Oh my gosh, Kikumaru, Calm down a bit. And we won't know what they're doing inside unless we try to get a little closer so that we can sneak a look through the window.

_Oh, okay Taka. But I'm just saying, sharing his burger will be very romantic of Ryoma. It's like when Oishi buys me a cone of ice cream and I eat it, and then I make Oishi taste it, and then he blushes but looks at me with tender eyes, and then I reach out and…_

Waaah! I don't need to hear that Eiji!

_Look, Tezuka and Ochibi are leaving! Either Ochibi was really hungry and finished his food really fast or Tezuka is being cheap, and doesn't treat Ochibi to his normal amount of burgers…_

In any case, let's continue to follow them.

_Okay. We're walking after them. They're a few meters ahead of us. I'm not sure where we are going. I know it isn't towards Ochibi's house, because we should have made a right turn a couple of blocks away. Neither is this the way to Tezuka's house._

They might be going to a tennis court, maybe practice a little bit and…

_Look! Taka, look!_

I'm looking and… *Taka's jaw dropped at what he saw*

_This is it Taka, the proof we are looking for! Quick, you phone! Take a picture!_

*Taka reached for his phone and snapped a picture of the couple.* Oh my, the crowd is really not going to believe this!

_Yes, we are right! Tezuka really is Ryoma's lover! And we have a proof!_

**End of the report**

TBC…

* * *

I know a lot of people hate me for the super late update. But as I always said, better late than never *dodges all the shuriken thrown my way*.

Thank you to all who reviewed! I have very limited time to spend surfing the net for pleasure, so I apologize for not being able to thank each reviewer for leaving a feedback. But please know that your comments are much appreciated.

Please wait for the update of my other stories as well. Hopefully by next week I have finished reviewing the old chapters and writing the new one. Until the next chapter!

**nicki-gurl**


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